County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), Public Health Services, Tobacco Retail Licensing Program

Tobacco Retail License (TRL)

A tobacco retailer in the unincorporated area of San Diego County must hold a Tobacco Retail License, administered by HHSA Public Health Services under Ordinance No. 10699, and pay a flat $730 fee plus a processing charge, confirmed directly on the County's own current 'How to Apply' and 'How to Renew' pages ('Pay the TRL fee of $730 (plus processing charges)'). New applicants pay the full $730 regardless of when in the year they apply — the County's own page states this directly ('New TRL retailers will be required to pay the full amount regardless of when they apply for a new license') — so no partial-year or multi-year phase-in currently applies, correcting an older three-year 50%/75%/100% phase-in that some secondary sources still describe from the program's original 2020-2022 rollout. This license is unincorporated-area only: since January 1, 2022, no new license issues within 500 feet of an already-licensed retailer, and none issues once the county's license count reaches 330. A tobacco retailer inside any of the 18 incorporated cities is subject to that city's own tobacco-retail rules, if it has any, not this program.